KFC has launched an investigation after footage emerged claiming to show a rat scurrying around one of its Northern Ireland restaurants.

Photos and videos of a rat were posted online claiming to be taken in KFC’s Shaftesbury Square branch in Belfast on Saturday evening.

Seana Ryan, 23, from West Belfast, told Belfast Live: "It was just surreal, I was out with my boyfriend and friend when we heard this man shouting, 'Take pictures'.

"It was running around the tables and climbing up on the benches."

A KFC spokesman has confirmed that an internal investigation is under way.

The KFC spokesman said: "We take the hygiene of our restaurants extremely seriously; we are investigating this incident as a matter of the utmost importance and can confirm that the restaurant has no history of issues of this kind."

The spokesman also said that the restaurant had received five stars out of five in its last hygiene inspection by Belfast City Council.